About Janelle Cooke

Permanent Guest Instructor, Ballet

Ms. Cooke began studying ballet at the age of four in Derry, NH. Her primary training was in Royal Academy of Dancing. She also received her training from the Academy of Colorado Ballet, School of American Ballet, and Interlochen Arts Academy. In 1995, she received the Young Artist Award for excellence in dance. After graduating from high school, Ms. Cooke became an apprentice with Colorado Ballet, and one year later was invited to join the company as a member of the corps de ballet, she was promoted to soloist in 2003. Her roles with Colorado Ballet include Sugarplum Fairy and Arabian in The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Giselle, Helena in Christopher Wheeldon's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Phrygia in Spartacus. She has performed leading roles in George Balanchine's Rubies, Who Cares, and Stars and Stripes; Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs; Paul Taylor's Company B; Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring; Frederick Ashton's Façade; and Alvin Ailey's The River. She has also danced featured roles with many contemporary choreographers including Michael Pink, Lila York, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jessica Lang, and Toru Shimazaki. Ms. Cooke has been teaching ballet throughout Colorado since 2000 and most recently instructed students at The Academy of Colorado Ballet from 2006-2010.